Yesterday, drmellow and I spent the day in Norfolk, VA, attending his Aunt Cathryn's funeral. Actually, we spent the majority of the day driving to and from Norfolk--it's a 4.5 hours each way--but it was an enjoyable trip, nonetheless, and one that took us down roads we don't usually travel.

Greg's Aunt Cathryn was his grandmother's sister, and she was 87 when she passed away. I didn't have the opportunity to meet Greg's grandmother (she died when he was 10) and, regrettedly, never met his Aunt Cathryn, either. Declining health and considerable distance kept her from attending family functions in recent years, though I did enjoy hearing about Greg's memories of her from his childhood.

After the 11 o'clock service and procession to the cemetery, we visited with family and friends at the home of her daughter, and discovered that several cousins whom Greg hadn't seen in years (and I had never met) also live in Greensboro, very near to us. It's always a little bizarre to run into people far from home who can recognize exactly which church you attend, which grocery store you shop at, or which trails you like to hike.

Following lunch, we made a quick stop so I could buy a pair of jeans and change out of my dress clothes; then we set out to explore a bit of town. The GPSr made it easy to navigate to the waterfront, and led us through some picturesque, historic residential areas along the way. We stopped in a few antique shops (one of which was so laden with "treasures" we were convinced we were going to fall through the floor if we both entered the back room at the same time) and hunted unsuccessfully for punch cups, though drmellow won the prize for the best find--a movie poster for Teen-Age Mother ("..she did her homework in parked cars").

On the way home, we stopped at Cracker Barrel for supper, where I schooled the Doctor in checkers while we ate--rather, he ultimately resigned, the impending defeat was so shameful. However, he exacted his revenge on the way home, beating me by a point (the only point) in the "radio game"--a pasttime we had invented earlier in the day. Fun times.